


From Korea, With Love

by MaxWrite



Series: Hockey Night in Canada and Everything After [12]
Category: Actor RPF, American (US) Actor RPF, British Actor RPF, Mission: Impossible (Movies) RPF
Genre: M/M, RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 06:26:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16034840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaxWrite/pseuds/MaxWrite
Summary: I don't even have a summary for this thing. This is just literally what happened irl with a few embellishments.





	From Korea, With Love

**Author's Note:**

> All right. So! The _Mission: Impossible – Fallout_ press tour. Wow.
> 
> I swear Tom and Simon did everything during this tour that was publicly acceptable except kiss, and let me tell you I have never been this agitated by sexual tension before. It's not even real sexual tension ffs.
> 
> I enjoy writing about them from other characters' POVs, so I'm using McQ again. I'll be honest, this fic is kind of redundant. _Real Person Fiction_ and _The Ophelia Humphrey Show_ already covered this territory and actually had something resembling a story. But this time it's _real_. Or as real as it can be. I'm not making it up this time, it actually happened! So, I was compelled to write this because watching them together during this press tour was a trip. And it had to be an outsider's perspective. I needed the narrator to echo my own thoughts here because I almost can't believe I witnessed even half of that stuff with my own two eyeballs.
> 
> Anyway, see the end note for more stuff. As always I have provided links to as much of the rl content that inspired me as possible. Somewhere in there I've linked to the full-length video of the Korean press conference so you can see for yourself if you haven't already.

It's well into the evening in Seoul. Chris is back in his hotel suite, as are Henry, and Tom and Simon. They've got a flight to Japan in mere hours and everyone had decided that power naps were in order, but Chris can't sleep. So instead he's watching clips of that day's press conference online and eating minibar peanuts in bed.

He hates watching himself on camera, but he wants to keep his answers to questions fresh in his mind so he can keep things interesting when answering the same questions later on. Add some new information here, leave out a little something there. If nothing else, he'll keep himself from getting bored during interviews.

There he is, in the left-most seat on stage with the other three men, all of them seated in a row – himself, Henry, Simon and Tom, in that order. Chris hadn't caught a lot of the shenanigans that had happened on Tom and Simon's end. He mostly wasn't paying attention to that. He'd heard the audience's delighted reactions, though, and every now and then he'd caught a glimpse of the couple being couple-y on a monitor. He distinctly remembers a brief moment when Simon had been … whispering in Tom's ear? There shouldn't even be a question as to what exactly that was, but given their history, well, Chris has questions.

Watching it again now, it looks even more absurd. Why would Simon even need to get _that_ close? His right ass cheek is practically up off his seat. They could speak quietly to each other perfectly fine with a few inches between them and hardly any straining or craning of anything. What the fuck, Simon?

Then Chris smiles as he begins figuring it out. They _know_. Chris and Tom have talked about this before; Tom and Simon know what their fans like. After they'd come out, those hockey game pictures had made the rounds online for quite some time. All right. A little pandering never hurt anybody.

Other than that, Chris hadn't seen much of what had gone down at the other end of the row. But now, watching them from a much better angle, it's impossible not to notice.

Fifteen minutes into the conference and there's been _so_ much touching. It adds up quickly; a cupped shoulder here, an arm pat there. Chris has to rewind one particular part just to make sure he saw what he thinks he saw. Nope, he got it right the first time; Tom literally caressed Simon's ear while pretending to pull something from behind it. What he produces is the adorable Korean finger-heart symbol, which the four of them have learned and have been presenting to fans whenever appropriate, which, it turns out, is just about always.

This move that Tom makes, though, is so damn deliberate. Tom is no sleight-of-hand artist. The fact that he was making sure to make contact with Simon's ear, his neck, his shoulder, is painfully obvious. The audience shows their appreciation with a wave of giggles and little gasps. Chris wonders how much of that reaction is for the heart symbol and how much is simply for Tom and Simon being cute together. It's probably about half and half.

Well, Tom is nothing if not eager to give his audience what they like, within reason. Here, he's being downright indulgent and Chris is certain that that's as much about Simon as it is about the audience. Tom and Simon speak softly to each other about god knows what, laugh quietly together about some private joke. And there are those random little points of contact whose purpose Chris can't even begin to fathom. It's as if they're just touching each other for the sake of touching each other.

Chris supposes this is a carryover from the _Rogue Nation_ press tour. Promotion for that movie had required a showcase of their genuine connection, which is at least partly Chris's own doing; he'd witnessed that connection firsthand and let it inspire him, so now here they are. This movie isn't nearly so much about Ethan and Benji's friendship, but neither Tom, nor Simon seems to mind displaying their closeness for the audience anyway. They'd been a bit timid about it last time, both unsure about just how much of their relationship they wanted to put out there, nervous about the kind of scrutiny such displays might invite. Apparently since _Rogue Nation_ they'd figured out that they be this demonstrative in public without sacrificing too much of their privacy.

Which is great, Chris thinks. People like seeing them together, and besides, Ethan and Benji's friendship is still an important part of the franchise.

It also occurs to Chris as he watches the couple on his laptop that this might be kind of novel for Tom and even a little exciting; going from being closeted and scared to being closeted and tired of it and then to being out and in love. He's being openly affectionate with his male partner, to whom he is legally married, in front of millions of people, and it's okay. Chris has felt that special kind of excitement that tends to follow the couple, the anticipation that crackles among a group of fans who are hoping to witness a kiss, a caress, a sneaky little grope, who go weak in the knees when the two men exchange compliments, secretive smiles or smitten glances. Tom can lay a hand on Simon's thigh, take his hand or merely stand close, he can gaze into his partner's eyes or whisper in his ear, and make people happy. Just for being affectionate. Just for loving someone and showing it. Not so long ago this wouldn't have been possible at all. Chris supposes if he was in such a position, he might be a little flaunty too.

Tom mentions Simon's abs again. Chris rolls his eyes. He's lost count of how many times Tom's done that. He's done the same to Henry, drawing attention to his special talents during interviews, but it's Simon with whom Tom gets physical, actually reaching over and gently patting Simon's stomach as if people don't know where a person's abdominal muscles are located. That's at least the second time he's pulled that move during the Korean leg of the tour. Chris emits a little snort-laugh as he tosses a handful of honey-roasted peanuts into his mouth. Tom just wanted to touch him, period. There was no other practical reason for that.

And Simon is absolutely glowing under the spotlight of Tom's attention. He makes attempts at being modest when Tom begins gushing about him, and that modesty might be genuine, but he's still got that healthy, blushy, lit-from-within thing that he gets when he and Tom feel particularly connected. Simon is a blatant flirt himself. It comes off as rather innocent, even when he says something risque, but Chris has seen it enough times to recognize it from a mile off. The way he focuses his attention on Tom as if no one else is in the room; the almost bedroom-y look he gets in his eyes; the way he laughs when Tom says something quietly to him, that secretive little giggle that makes his nose scrunch up. And when he isn't the one getting Tom's attention, Simon takes the initiative to pull Tom's focus back to him with a little poke on the arm, a tug at his sleeve, beckoning him to lean in to be whispered to, so close it may as well be a kiss or a nibble on the ear. It looks completely innocent, just Simon being himself; cute and playful. But he knows exactly what he's doing and he knows that Tom can't not respond to him. Oh, Simon's an absolute flirt, all right. And Tom is very much wrapped around his finger.

Chris remembers the beginning of the press tour when they were actually trying to restrain themselves a bit. Seems like a million years ago and it hasn't even been a week. After seven years together, one would think their relationship would've settled down to something a little less exciting, more relaxed. Apparently not.

From the bedroom it's hard to make it out, but it sounds like someone just knocked on Chris's door. It's not that late; only just after ten p.m. But Chris certainly isn't expecting anyone, and Tom, Simon and Henry would simply call or text if they needed to tell him something.

 _This is the part of the horror movie where I get stabbed to death,_ Chris thinks as he goes out to the door to see who it is.

A peek through the peephole reveals Henry standing in the hall, clutching a blanket and pillow to his chest. He looks slightly pale when Chris opens the door. He's wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt and … socks. Chris scans Henry's body for a pair of shoes,, perhaps tucked beneath an arm, but finds nothing.

"Mind if I hang out here for a bit?" Henry asks hopefully.

"Uh, okay," Chris says, stepping aside to let him in. "What's wrong with your room?"

"Room's fine," Henry says somewhat gruffly as he steps past Chris and heads for the sofa. "Walls could be a bit thicker, though."

"Oh no," Chris groans. He shuts and locks the door and follows Henry into the living room, turning on a lamp as he goes. "Are Tom and Simon fighting again? They always do this. One minute they're fine, the next they're at each other's throats. And then _bam_ they're good again, just like that. Hanging out with them is like being thrown back and forth between two parallel universes."

"Erm, no, they're, er, they're still good," Henry assures him while making himself comfortable.

"Oh." Chris frowns a bit as he comes to a stop by the end table next to the sofa. "Really?"

"Yeah." With his pillow propped up against one of the armrests and his blanket in a pile on the cushion next to him, Henry looks up at Chris and adds, "I think they'd either gotten the arguing part done while we were apart from them earlier, or perhaps skipped it entirely and shot straight through to the 'bam' portion."

Chris grins as he realizes what that slightly mortified look on Henry's face was. "Oh. Well, that's good to hear."

"It most certainly was not."

"Yeah, it's either fighting or the other 'F' thing with those two. This is your first time sharing a wall with them, huh? I probably should've warned you to request a room anywhere but next to theirs."

"I'll remember for next time."

"I guess you ran outta there so quickly you didn't even remember to grab your shoes."

"What?" Henry stops beating his pillow with his fist to glance down at his gym socks. "Oh. Right. Yeah, I guess I sort of hightailed it out of there. Forgot my phone and everything."

"Well, that's the price we pay for peace. The bickering is a lot more interesting, but it's better that they're getting along." Chris begins heading back to the bedroom, but he stops a little ways from the door and turns back to Henry. "Hey, you were next to them at the press conference. Did you see … Simon was just whispering in Tom's ear that one time, right?"

Henry twists around to frown at Chris over his shoulder. "What?"

"Forget it. It's not important. Holler if you need anything."

"Brain bleach, if you've got it," Henry calls as Chris walks away.

"Oh, you'll be fine. Consider it a type of hazing."

"Psychological trauma wasn't in my contract."

"Welcome to the spy fam, kiddo," Chris says with a smirk before shutting the bedroom door.

 

END

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**Author's Note:**

>   * [The Whisper](https://twitter.com/____yal____/status/1020343851960057856). Which looks so much like the scene I wrote in the very first fic in this series, except it was Tom doing the "whispering", and it wasn't whispering, it was _kissing_ , but they later insisted it was just whispering, and it was in front of an entire arena full of people and cameras. This looks like _that_. It looks so damn intimate it kills me. The way Simon is lightly tugging on Tom's sleeve??? I'm dead.
>   * [In which Simon goes for a butt-touch but is thwarted](https://mobile.twitter.com/simonpegg_photo/status/1018008863662993408/photo/1). Lol you can actually see Tom saying "Stop it, Simon!"
>   * [The Chin on the Shoulder](https://twitter.com/simonpegg_photo/status/1020106158898466817). Which really reminds me of [this fanart](http://maxwrite.tumblr.com/post/161459164157/are-you-not-sirgay-fanarts-from-august-2015) from after RN came out (it's at the bottom). It's also similar to something I've written before, a scene in _Phantom Limb_ , actually. Not red carpet, but there was chin on shoulder. What's funny is that when I was writing that fic, I was picturing them as being around the same height, even though I knew they weren't. I'd never actually seen Tom standing next to Simon without lifts, and in fact there are scenes in _Ghost Protocol_ in which Ethan looks taller than Benji, so I didn't bother trying to picture it any other way. Now, looking at what it actually looks like when two people who are around the same height are in that position, it makes me laugh because if Tom is actually around three inches shorter than Simon without shoes, then that position becomes real goofy, real quick. Welp, can't change it now.
>   * [The Legend of the Abs](https://www.weibo.com/6439002860/GqxxCeZI8), in which Tom is, once again, hyping up Simon's abs, this time to the point of actually reaching over during the Japanese press conference to pat Simon's tummy (at around 7:44). There's also a [gif of another tummy pat](https://twitter.com/peggsterkr/status/1019014153229365248) from the Korean premiere.
>   * [The Caress](http://maxwrite.tumblr.com/post/176418829087/doodlerdoodle-all-the-credits-to-simonpeggnews) (top-left gif), in which Tom literally caresses Simon's ear, neck and shoulder while pretending to pull something (Korean finger-heart symbol thing) from behind his ear. As I had McQ thinking in the fic, it looks so deliberate. There's a point when he's got his thumb and forefinger in the heart position and he's pulling his hand away, but his other fingers kind of linger, touching areas that have nothing to do with the fucking ear. G A W D.
>   * [The … WTF](https://twitter.com/im_rights/status/1019099766297276416), in which I don't know what the heck Simon is doing at the beginning of the gif. Those little poke-pokes on Tom's arm. What is that? Why would you need to do that? You wouldn't. I can't explain exactly what it looks like to me. Basically kinda like everything else on this list, like two people who are extremely comfortable being in each other's personal space. It genuinely looks like two people who share their lives with one another.
>   * The Naughty School Boys, in which there are just generally unable to stop chatting, quietly laughing and touching each other for nearly the entire press conference in Korea. You can watch the whole thing [here](https://youtu.be/_n4cXaK2dBY). It's just under 40 minutes. I assume the Japan press conference was more of the same, but I can't find a full-length video of that.
>   * [Simon saying flat-out that Benji has a crush on Ethan and that he's probably pansexual](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enTQkHM3onU&feature=youtu.be&t=12m40s). That discussion begins with a question about fanfiction, which is relevant to our interests, so that's where the timestamp starts.
> 

> 
> In conclusion, Christmas came early this year for us shippers.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. ♥


End file.
